Last-Minute Advent

I hate shopping, and neither am I a crafty person, so I can’t really say I go “all out” for the Christmas season. I do, however, love the simple traditions of Advent. This Christmas in our first home will be a very special one, and I am looking forward to waiting and preparing to celebrate the birth of Christ with the children. Advent truly is as meaningful and fun as Christmas; what a pity more people don’t take time to experience it.

That does not mean, however, that I have carefully prepared for the season of Advent. Oh, no. Those of you who knew me as a child (precious, wasn’t I!) will probably not be surprised by the following statement. I am a terrible procrastinator. Actually, I like to think I work well under last-minute pressure.

The box of decorations has been sitting on a shelf in the garage since the move. I first remembered the Sunday before Thanksgiving that Advent would be starting soon and I needed to check and see if I had any candles. I remembered again last Sunday and even went so far as to move the box from the shelf to the floor of the garage. But since I didn’t have a knife handy, I couldn’t cut the tape. And so I forgot about it until today.

Naturally, when I opened the box today (by just ripping the tape off, of course) I discovered (gasp!) we have no advent candles. I felt a little like I did back in 7th grade when there were two days until the science fair- the one that was worth 25% of the semester grade- and I still hadn’t even told Mom I needed a large sheet of posterboard and five seedlings at various stages of development. That slightly sick “better figure something out” feeling is the pressure I work oh-so-well under.

I’m hoping that the church office will be selling candles. Or if not, just maybe I can find the proper candles at one of the three shopping places in town. However I’m pretty sure that by Sunday afternoon I will be at the computer putting in an emergency order for candles. Perhaps I better order several years’ worth. With any luck, given the reliability of the mail system this time of year, I might get my candles before the Feast of the Presentation. In the meantime, I could do what we did three years ago (the lack of Advent candles is definitely a trend) and make “candles” out of construction paper. We could, that is, if we had any construction paper. I've been meaning to stock up on that, too.

And don’t even get me started on why we have no nativity set…

You can tell (hopefully!) that I am seeing the humor in this. I am so glad I can laugh about these little things. Nothing has to be perfect except my sincere intentions and faithful perseverance. What we are lacking in advent candles and Christmas statuary, I hope we will make up for by presenting our hearts as a warm resting place for Joseph, Mary, and the Infant Jesus. May the Prince of Peace reign in all our hearts as we prepare to celebrate His birth!

God bless!